Pro Handyman Blog

A typical handyman service sees plenty of curling or lifting vinyl flooring. Most often, it occurs at a transition point, for example where the vinyl meets carpeting, or along the bathtub or shower. If left alone, it will curl up and harden like a tax collector’s heart.

Repairing the edge of vinyl along a transition or a bathtub is similar. Getting the vinyl to lay back down can be challenging. First try to scrape up any old adhesive off of the floor where the vinyl has lifted, as well as the vinyl itself. Just be careful not to damage the vinyl. Then you can use a notched trowel (or make one out of a plastic scraper) and apply new adhesive.

For the transition area, you can always use a wider transition strip (or install one if it didn’t already have one). This will help hold the vinyl back down. Heat up the edge of the vinyl with a blow dryer to get it warm and pliable and then push it down into the adhesive. Immediately set some weight upon the edge to coerce it to stay down, and then secure the transition strip on top of it.

For the bathtub, use the same process, except instead of a transition strip, you can install a piece of baseboard along the edge, not only to keep the vinyl from lifting again, but to dress up the area as well.